After my run on Halloween I decided that heading out for another run in two days would be even scarier than the ghosts and witches I’d seen decorating the neighborhood, mainly due to my right Achilles tendon still being sore.
I’ve decided to rest it until at least this Saturday, November 10th. That will give me a week and a half for the tendon to recover. I think that may be enough time but we’ll see. If I still feel I am not up for a full run on Saturday I’ll probably at least do a walk as the low impact nature of that shouldn’t aggravate the foot.
The combination of not running and snacking has seen me inch above my maintenance weight for the first time in months. Granted it’s only by 0.2 pounds so far but still, it took me weeks to gain back the three pounds I’d lost from the flu. Now I seem to be having no trouble at all with the whole gaining thing. I’m trying to exercise (ho ho) a little more restraint when it comes to nibbling on calorie-laden goodies.
The dreaded start of Week 2 of NaNoWriMo is underway.
I have worked in the introduction of the main villain, which amounts to a story within a story. While this section will end up being trimmed (it has some repeated details from Ethan’s early experiences with the power) for now it has added 4,545 words, bringing the total to 17,113. That gives me a buffer of 3,777 or slightly over two days. I like that.
I found myself unsure where to take the story next and only wrote 12 words tonight. This would put me on pace to finish the novel in 2021, which is a bit late.
But I did do some good thinkin’ and believe I’ll be ready to jump into a more fruitful writing session tomorrow.
I’m moving into uncharted territory now. Starting with only the barest outline, the characters are now being introduced and I’m finding out just what the heck these people are all about. It’s exciting!
It is the eve of National Novel Writing Month 2012, the fourth one in which I’ve participated. My record so far is not great:
2009: Win
2010: Fail
2011: Fail
Unlike previous years I’m not trying to adapt or expand an existing short story. I’m not sure whether this will work to my benefit or not but at least I have an idea to start from. I plan to post daily updates and that handy NaNoWriMo widget over on the right should update my word count.
I have done a little outlining and some thinking but that’s it for preparation, unless you count the 20 year old incomplete notes I wrote when I first hatched this idea back when no one knew what a cell phone was.
The novel is called The Mean Mind. More to follow soon™.
Average pace: 4:42/km Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Distance: 11.05 km
Weather: Rain
Temp: 12-13ºC
Wind: light to moderate
Calories burned: 749
Total distance to date: 2042 km
Today’s run was done under a heavy rainfall warning for the area. As on Monday I donned my cycling jacket and this time it came in handy as it rained the entire run. I was lucky in that although it was a steady rain it also turned out to be light. It was also fairly mild. I stayed dry under the jacket except for the sweat again getting trapped in my shirt. It wasn’t as bad as on Monday, however.
My only goal was to do better today, knowing the Achilles tendon would still be sore. It was and again it slowed me down but I achieved my goal and finished with a pace of 4:42/km, five seconds better over Monday. The tendon again felt much improved after it warmed up and stretched. I am using some stinky Rub-A535 on it now to see if that helps post-run.
The trail was an interesting spectacle. I’ve never run around the lake at this time of year so this was my first time doing so not only after heavy rain but during rain as well. The puddles on Monday had grown significantly, many others had joined them and at least four to six areas were impossible to pass without dipping your toes in copious amounts of water. None of this bothers me as I’d experienced soggy conditions frequently at China Creek but it was fun (?) to see how the weather was reshaping the trails at Burnaby Lake. Notable sections included the recently shored-up section near the athletic fields. The parks crew had covered nearly the entire section with fresh gravel, raising it up. The raising was somewhat in vain as several broad swaths of water were running over top of the area, not unlike a river. Splish splash went I through it.
The section that always floods alongside the fields had the appearance of a small lake. I skirted wide around it, knowing that the field’s edge would be similarly soggy, just hidden by the grass. As it turns out the whole damn thing was soggy. Gloop glop went I through the water and mire. Numerous other spots presented similar if smaller hazards.
By the end my feet were thoroughly soaked but thanks to the gravel there was little mud on my legs (unlike China Creek). And in a small act of mercy the rain stopped for the walk home, so I was mostly dry by the time I got home. Yay!
Average pace: 4:47/km Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Distance: 11.29 km
Weather: Cloudy
Temp: 12ºC
Wind: light
Calories burned: 766
Total distance to date: 2031 km
Ran Piper Mill trail, Spruce and Conifer Loops.
With the Achilles tendon feeling a tad tender I decided to skip the last run of the week to get an extra day of rest. Today looked to be wet so I decided to wear my water-resistant cycling jacket to try to keep dry.
Naturally, the rain stopped and I didn’t need it. I’m not complaining, though it was a little warm with the jacket on and it ended up trapping sweat that would have wicked away otherwise.
The Achilles tendon did prove to be an inhibitor. It was stiff and sore and that acted as a cap on my run speed. As I progressed around the lake and it limbered up it started to feel better but I was still well below my current pace and finished at 4:47/km.
The other notable part of the run was the condition of the trail with a heavy storm having just passed through the area. I was doing some regular puddle jumping and both the Conifer and Spruce Loops had numerous twigs and branches strewn about. On the plus side, the collapsed section of trail on the south shore that resulted from a tree collapsing was finally shored up with fresh gravel.
I am hoping and expecting Wednesday’s run to be better.
